The World's Worst Thief
by Pixiebaby321
Summary: A pretty girl decides to steal something from Artemis. PLEASE REVIEW because I'd love feedback so I can make it progressively better :  Thanks, and I hope you enjoy!
1. Something Wicked This Way Comes?

CHAPTER ONE

It is what was quickly becoming a typical Saturday at the Fowl Estate; Artemis is watching Beckett and Myles, which consists mostly of Myles rambling on about the latest mold experiment he's working on while Beckett creates masterpieces with his finger-paints. Artemis certainly can think of several other, entirely illegal, ventures he'd rather be pursuing on this Saturday, but Angeline has been insistent Artemis baby-sit the twins on Saturdays so they have some "bonding time" while she and his father watch a movie or go shopping, whatever activity they decide to do for date night. Its not that he doesn't like watching his twin brothers, its just listening to them babble on and on about their seemingly pointless three-year-old toddler opinions quickly becomes tiresome, not to mention the headache its causing.

The nursery door opens slightly and butler pokes his head in.

"There's someone at the front gate who wants to speak to you."

Artemis jumps up, delighted at the opportunity for even the slightest break. "Watch them for me please." He says, practically running out of the room to the surveillance room down the hall. It isn't until he opens the door to the surveillance room that the thought dawns on him he has no idea who would want to talk to him on a Saturday. The thought doesn't discourage him from checking the video footage of the front gate.

What he sees surprise him. There is a girl there, a girl around his age give or take a year. Its raining, and the girl has her arms wrapped around her to keep warm, she looks miserable. Her medium length brown hair is clinging to her face, and her thin jacket she's wearing is so soaked at this point its definitely not helping her situation. With no evidence of transportation, it seems as though she must have walked to the manor, but from where, and why? He presses the intercom button to talk to her.

"This is Artemis Fowl, state your business."

The girl jumps, startled at the sudden voice she hears. It takes her a second to recover.

"Oh, okay, well my name is Tinsley, Tinsley Collins, and my car broke down about a mile from here. You're the first house I've came to since I started walking, I was hoping I could use your phone?" Her voice sounds fuzzy and shaky through the room's speakers, and her hazel eyes are pleading.

Of course there are no houses within five miles either way of the Fowl's estate, this is a fairly isolated part of Dublin. If he doesn't let her call a tow truck or something at his house, she'll have to walk at least another six or seven miles in this downpour until she found someplace where she could.

"Alright, you can use the phone." He opens the gates and watches her walk up the driveway, shivering violently the whole way. She looks pitiful, and he feels for her.

"Butler, we have a visitor." Artemis calls as he rushes to the front door to let her in. Artemis didn't hear him follow, but butler is beside him as he opens the door to let Tinsley in. As soon as she steps inside, butler motions to grab her purse. Tinsley backs away, horrified both at the action and the huge man standing in front of her.

"He wants to check for weaponry." Artemis states flatly, a tinge embarrassed. Butler is always thorough at protecting him, but this seems a bit overboard.

"Oh, right, because I keep a pistol or something tucked right under my mascara and lip-gloss." Tinsley quips.

Artemis suppresses a snicker at her comment before shooting butler a glare that says don't push it.

"The phone is this way," Artemis says as he walks toward the kitchen, the room housing the closest phone. Tinsley follows, but not after taking off her mud covered shoes so as not to track sludge throughout the house. Her clothes make sloshing noises as she walks, and she leaves a small trail of water on the entrance room's wooden floor. When she reaches the phone she breathes an audible sigh of relief, after which she proceeds to dial the number of a tow truck company, a number she apparently keeps in her purse, written on a crumpled piece of paper, just for this kind of situation. Artemis doesn't stay to listen in on the conversation, as fascinating as eavesdropping on a phone call to a tow truck company can be. He returns to the nursery to resume watching the twins, to find Beckett has decided the wall is more fun to paint on than paper.

"Beckett, what am I going to do with you?" Artemis says, barely containing his anger.

"I told him not to, but the simple-toon wouldn't listen to me." Myles says.

A few minutes of scrubbing the wall with bleach water later, butler steps into the room with Tinsley, and he looks slightly agitated.

"It appears Tinsley can't find a ride home."

Artemis raises an eyebrow at this development.

"Its just, I don't actually live around here and my mother can't exactly pick me up today."

"What are you doing so far from where you live, Tinsley?" Artemis asks.

"I sort of - I really needed to get away for a little bit."

There's more to it than that, he can tell by the way she says it but decides not to push the subject further.

"Alright then, I'm sure my parents won't mind if you stayed the night here."

Butler clears his throat. "It'd be no problem for me to drive her to a motel for the night."

Artemis dismisses butler's suggestion. "That's not very hospitable."

_Since when are you ever hospitable? _butler wants to say, but bites his tongue.

"If you'll follow me, I'll show you to the bathroom so you can take a shower and get out of those wet clothes." butler says, his true intention to get Tinsley out of the room so he can talk some sense into Artemis.

"But I don't have a change of clothes -" Tinsley realizes, disheartened.

"My mother is about your size, you can borrow something of hers until your clothes are washed."

Tinsley smiles, and Artemis feels his heart beat a tinge faster.

"You have to be the nicest person I've ever met. Seriously," she says before following butler to the bathroom.

Butler and Artemis both almost burst out laughing at this; Artemis being called nice, this had to be a first, probably would be the last time to. Less than a minute later butler returns to the nursery, not holding back his agitation as clearly as before.

"Why would you say she can stay the night?"

"Well, look at her situation. I felt like being nice, is that so odd?"

"Is that a rhetorical question, sir?"

"Alright, I'll concede, it is the slightest bit out of my character, but think about this butler: one day I'll have to get married, if for no other reason than to conform to the expectations of society, and in order for this to happen, I have to gain a tinge of experience in talking to girls. This is a golden opportunity."

"You just think she's pretty, don't you?"

Artemis doesn't answer, just shrugs his shoulders.

"You should just let me drive her to a motel." He throws her purse to Artemis, who clumsily catches it. "Look inside."

"You went through it?" Artemis only momentarily looks appalled as butler nods.

Artemis doesn't see the point of discussing it, what's done is done, so without a word he quickly rummages through the purse, amazed at how much she can fit in such a seemingly small space, until he reaches the document butler wanted him to find.


	2. The Trophy room

"It's a blueprint…." Artemis doesn't finish his sentence, but butler does.

"Of Fowl manor. She's not here by chance as she wants you to believe."

"But this is interesting, the trophy room is marked; she must know what's inside it." Artemis muses. The trophy room, as the family called it, contains the extremely valuable results of their many criminal expenditures. Paintings, rare gems, the room easily contained $500,000 dollars worth of artifacts alone, but of course no one outside the family knew of it, or were supposed to. It was really just like a large vault in the house big enough to be considered a room, or at least a large closet.

"But even more interesting….look at this." He flips the blueprint over to show Butler the back, on which numbers are scrawled. "The codes to enter the room are written here, and it was regularly updated as the code was changed. Not recently though; I would have to say none of these codes were the combination in my time, these are quite outdated. I still wonder how she has this information though?" Artemis puts it back in the purse, folding it neatly how it had been; he hands the purse to butler, who looks confused at Artemis's bland reaction to the find.

"I want you to put this back where you found it, in every detail; I don't want her to suspect we've seen its contents."

"Does this mean you still want her to stay the night?"

"Yes, I think this could be entertaining. In fact, I'm going to set up her guest bedroom right now."

Butler doesn't ask questions, though he wants to. He simply leaves quietly to follow Artemis's instructions.

CHAPTER TWO

By setting up the guest bedroom, of course Artemis didn't mean the physical labor aspects of it such as making the bed and whatnot; no, he goes straight to the rooms computer. He creates a document with the trophy rooms most recent entry codes, a document he makes sure Tinsley can easily find by creating an obvious desktop shortcut labeled security codes. He almost snickers at how laughable this is, as if he is setting up a most amusing April fools day joke instead of giving someone information to steal from him.

He returns to the nursery fifteen minutes later to find Tinsley entertaining Myles and Beckett with a story about a dragon holding a princess captive. They are hanging on her every word, entranced, something Artemis has never seen done before with these two. But he can see why they love the story, she is so alive as she tells it. She creates different voices for the characters, her hands make gestures as she tells the characters actions, and her eyes glow with excitement as she describes the princesses heroic rescue. She is so into it she hadn't even heard Artemis enter. Butler is sitting in a chair in the corner of the room with a serious look on his face, but Artemis can tell he too is impressed with how she is handling the kids.

Beckett, on seeing Artemis stands and hugs Tinsley's leg tightly.

"I've decided, Tinsley is my future fiancée!" Fiancée comes out sounding more like fahnsay, but everyone understands.

"Artemis, your brothers are adorable." Tinsley says, smiling.

Artemis doesn't see it.

"Why don't I show you your room for the night?" Artemis says, deciding to change the topic.

"Oh, that'd be great."

Artemis glances back at butler as he leaves, an attempt to see how agitated he is; its not pretty.

"Here's the room," he says as he opens the door to the guest bedroom.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." Tinsley says as she sets her purse on the bed. "Its nice."

It issn't all that nice really. Right now it is just an incredibly spacious room with a few pieces of furniture here and there; this guest bedroom is one of the few rooms that hadn't yet been touched by an interior designer, but Tinsley seems genuinely pleased by it. "Well, it has internet at least," Artemis says, intentionally drawing her attention to the computer.

"Oh, I can check facebook!" Tinsley says, excited.

"Right…" It isn't exactly what Artemis plans for her to check on the computer, but it should get the job done. Something about her really isn't adding up, he thinks. Either she's a fantastic actress, or she is genuinely this innocent and nice, and if it's the latter, he wonders what situation could possibly make her think about stealing, something so blatantly out of her character. Although, he's one to talk. His actions today have been out of character.

"Well, dinner is at six, but if you could just stay in this room until I clear this with my parents…"

"Got it!" Tinsley answers excitedly, not wanting to be any more of a burden than she fears she has been. The second Artemis steps out of the room she heads over to the computer, and her eyes catch a particularly interesting desktop folder. It does seem odd that such security codes would be in such an obvious place, but she dismisses the thought, assuming since the houses security at the front gate is so high in itself the family doesn't believe any thief will be able to even touch a computer. A few seconds later and the most recent code is scrawled under all the others on the back of the blueprint, and she's ready for tonight. Oddly enough, at the moment she's more nervous about meeting Artemis's parents.

When Artemis returns to the guest bedroom with both his parents around forty-five minutes later, he finds Tinsley dancing all out to _Fire Fire _from Fannypack; she's good though, he can tell she's certainly had some dance classes. Her turns and jumps are crisp and clean, perfectly controlled. Her body forms beautiful lines, a result of being perfectly alligned and centered, something only years of dance can provide. She doesn't hear them enter, and none of them say a word; why interrupt such entertainment?

"Well, she certainly is lively." Angeline whispers to Artemis.

"I'm glad you brought a friend home to meet us!" His father says.

Yes, Artemis fudged the truth a bit to them by insinuating Tinsley and him are friends, not that he'd just met her today.

"But tell me, why is she wearing my dress?" Angeline whispers.

"I already explained: her car broke down on the way to visit me, she was caught in a downpour."

At the end of the song, Artemis clears his throat to let her know he's in the room, trying hard to suppress his laughter.

"Oh my gosh!" Tinsley jumps a little at seeing them. She recovers a second later and walks over to Artemis's parents casually, as if she's known them all her life. Her smile never falters.

"Hello, my name is Tinsley Collins."

"I'm Angeline Fowl," Angeline says, with a smile.

_so far so good, _Artemis allows himself to hope this will work.

"I'm Artemis Senior." Artemis's dad says.

"Its nice to see you." Tinsley says.

"Artemis says you're a friend of his, how long have you two known each other?"

"Oh -" Tinsley hesitates a second, but she catches on to the lie Artemis must have told fast. "about two months now."

"Alright now, out with it," Angeline says jokingly, "are you guys dating? Artemis, you didn't tell me you had such a pretty girlfriend."

"Oh, no -" Tinsley says, then feels bad at how mean it might sound when said so quickly. "we're just friends."

Artemis clears his throat to draw the attention back to him. "yes, so if you have no further questions -"

"Oh, we have tons!" Angeline says excitedly. "Over supper, of course."

Tinsley and Artemis share a worried look as his parents exit the room.

"So, Tinsley you're an aspiring dancer?" Angeline asks as she brings a spoonful of soup to her mouth to blow on it.

"What?" Tinsley says, caught off guard by the question.

"We saw you dancing earlier, you were fantastic." Angeline states.

"You must have taken dance classes." Artemis's father adds.

"Oh, that - I _did_ take dance classes." Tinsley admits. "But pursuing it as a career, that would be…" she hesitates, not wanting to say it, "foolish."

Artemis can see it in her eyes though as she says it, that just the opposite is true; even though she knows its foolish, he can tell she's torn by not being able to dance for a living. Her smile is different when she lies, its almost an exact replica of when she's being truthful, but her eyes don't fit with it, they don't have the genuine sparkle. No matter what, her eyes aren't capable of lying. Something is keeping her from dancing then as well. More and more the circumstances of Tinsley's situation is becoming a mystery Artemis wants to solve, but he lets it pass. His parents continue to bombard her with questions until she politely excuses herself to help butler clean up in the kitchen to duck out of them. Artemis feels bad for her, but she handled it much better than he thought she would.

"She's a charming young girl." Angeline says. "Reminds me of me when I was younger. Such a free spirit."

"Well, she has a good work ethic, very polite to assist butler." His father says.

Artemis finds it humorous, all the good things they have to say about her, when he knows her intentions to steal from them tonight, but he simply nods at their comments.


	3. Musgravite

Artemis has grabbed coffee to keep him up for the night. He turns on the video surveillance television for the trophy room to watch Tinsley's plan commence. Butler has agreed to watch with him, though it took thorough convincing for him not to just have Tinsley arrested with the blueprint as evidence she had intent to steal from them.

"Why are you doing this again?" Butler prompts.

"Purely entertainment, my old friend." Artemis replies.

Artemis is afraid they'll have to stay up late into the night waiting for her to strike, but at 1:30 it begins. She uses the code to unlock the door and steps into a room surrounded by breathtakingly beautiful artifacts. For a second, she doesn't move, her head just turns both ways slowly, her eyes surveying the amount of wealth at her fingertips. Then she makes her move to a gem that catches her eye.

"Oh, good choice." Artemis murmurs. "that's Musgravite, worth $35,000 per carat, and that particular gem is at least 3 carats if I remember correctly."

Butler looks more distressed by the second. "How long do you intend to let this go on?"

"I'm just curious, humor me." Artemis says calmly.

Tinsley approaches it, and her arms reach out to grab it, Artemis zooms in on her eyes, full of hope and excitement, anticipation. Right as her fingers are about to grip it, they change, full of regret for the action before she's even fully committed it. She pulls her trembling fingers away and cup them to her heart and whispers something the camera can't detect, so he zooms in on her lips to lip-read.

"Forgive me, mom."

She then promptly turns and exits the room, not giving a second glance to any of the other artifacts. Once in the hallway she sinks down against the door, and cups her face in her hands. Artemis can hear sobbing.

"I knew she couldn't do it." Artemis whispers. Butler as well looks amazed, and filled with a new respect for her.

The next morning, Artemis discovers Tinsley has already left, his mother's dress she borrowed yesterday folded neatly on the guest bed is the only trace she'd ever been there. For some reason, Artemis is a bit bothered by this, though he can't quite place it. Letting her stay the night, attempt to steal something from him, it was supposed to be temporary fun, and now it was finished, or it was supposed to be. But he feels he's been left with an incomplete puzzle, to which important pieces are missing.

"Butler," Artemis says as he takes a bite of an apple for breakfast, "I assume you've already ran a full background check on Tinsley Collins?"

Butler hands it to his charge, having prepared fully for Artemis to bring up the topic. Artemis scans it quickly, to find what he expected; no criminal history whatsoever. Tinsley lives in Limerick, works at a quaint café called Darcy's Coffee, and apparently, at the age of 17, had been driving yesterday with only a permit and no accompanying adult.

"She woke me up this morning and asked me to drive her to the mechanics shop to see if the car repairs were finished. They were, so she paid the man with a credit card and took off." Butler informs Artemis.

"Butler, I think we should go to Limerick tomorrow."

"I thought you might."


	4. A loan of sorts

Tinsley groans as she stuffs the lousy tip from a tattooed drunkard in her pocket. At this rate, there was no way she could make the money she needs.

"Smile Tinsley." Her boss whispers to her as he walks past.

Right, service with a smile.

Tinsley puts on the most genuine smile she can manage and proceeds to walk to a table with a huge man and a scrawny teenager, praying to god for a substantial tip this time.

"Hello, my name is Tinsley, and I'll be your waitress today. What can I get for you?"

"Hmmm, butler, it appears she doesn't recognize us." Artemis feigns offense.

"Huh?" Tinsley blinks, then jumps. "Oh my gosh!"

Her head whips from left to right, to make sure no one is watching, then leans into the table and whispers, "I didn't steal it, I swear!"

"About that, I think you should have a seat."

Tinsley doesn't want to, but a look from butler tells her she has no choice.

"I'm sorry about what I -almost did." Tinsley says. "My mother was in a car accident three months ago. Its taken a lot of extensive surgery to get her as stable as she is now, but she's still hospitalized. We're sort of alone here so I've been having trouble paying the hospital bills. I just wanted the easy way out." She looks up to find Artemis and butler's skeptical eyes. "I'm not trying to make an excuse for what I - almost did, Its just, I mean, why are you guys here anyway?"

"What I want to know is how you came across the blueprint with inside information written on the back."

Tinsley's eyes widen. "You looked through my purse?"

Neither Artemis nor butler answer, there isn't really a point.

"Well, since you came across it. My Grandma's brother used to work as a butler for the Fowl family, but he hated it. For reasons I'm not quite sure about he wanted nothing more than to take the Fowl family down from the inside, but keep his own hands clean. So he sent my grandma all the information she needed to rob your family blind, telling her if she wanted to have a financially sound life, she would go through with his plans. She couldn't do it, even after she had my mother and really struggled financially. Her brother died young and left nothing to her in his will, so our family hasn't exactly been well off."

Artemis nodded, it makes sense, and at this point, she has no reason to lie to him, so he believes her. Now the pieces of the puzzle are in place, but the picture it presents is so melancholy it still bothers him. _Its not like me to feel such pity. _He tries to shrug it off but it doesn't work.

Tinsley breaks the silence. "So…now that you two have heard my sob story, I need to get back to work, my boss is giving me the evil eye. What can I get for you two?"

She stands, waiting for their order.

"I have a proposition for you." Artemis says suddenly, catching both butler and Tinsley by surprise. "I'll take care or your mothers hospital debt, provided you work it off as a live in maid and babysitter."

"Really?" Tinsley lights up in excitement. Tinsley knows she probably sounds desperate to so eagerly accept a live in job at the house of a person she'd only met yesterday, but her situation didn't allow her much pride or choice.

"I can't tear Beckett away from his future 'fahnsay' now can I?" Artemis says dryly; so dryly, it takes Tinsley a second to comprehend it's a joke.

"Wait -" butler and Tinsley say at the same time. Butler nods at her, giving her the go ahead to speak first.

"Artemis, why are you being so nice to me?"

Artemis squirms a little bit in his seat, uncomfortable with being called nice. "I think you're mistaken. I'm merely giving you what you'd call a loan. And believe me, I charge a devastatingly high interest."

Tinsley smiles widely, her first truly genuine smile since her mother's accident, causing Artemis's heart to skip a beat.

"You have to be the nicest person I've ever met. Seriously."


	5. Irresistible

Artemis is attempting to add the final touches to his latest technological innovation when Holly un-shields in front of him. She practically rips off her mechanical wings and yanks off her helmet, then quickly smoothes out her helmet hair so Artemis can't make an offensive remark about it. Well, like it really matter if he does, she knows who has the better aim and weapons available between the two of them, and she's not afraid to use this as a threat to keep him from making snaky comments.

"So Arty, what are you working on now?" She says, taking a seat on the edge of the desk on which his work is displayed.

"Brain probe. I'm going to see if I can successfully alter a person's personality; their actions, thought patterns, the like." He doesn't even look up to greet his guest for a few minutes, but when it does, its with a mildy sinister smile towards Holly. "Of course, I'll need a guinea pig."

"Oh, well it just so happens Foaly needs a guinea pig to test out the effects of his latest weapon, so I think I'll win this one." Holly says, not missing a beat. Artemis lets out a soft chuckle before returning to his work.

"Oh yeah," Holly says, not liking being ignored, "You are aware there is a female mud blood singing loudly to Irresistible as she dusts off all the books in your library?"

Artemis looks panicked for a second, but only in his eyes, he never lets it show in his work. "She didn't see you, correct?"

"No - wait, so you're aware?"

He looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "No, of course not, I just let random girls in to clean my library while they sing to - what was that song name again?"

"Irresistible." Holly says. "So you guys hired a maid?"

"Correct." Artemis replies. He gently places his invention in progress into a tiny vault beside the desk, making sure to reset the code, as he does every time he puts it back inside. A sigh of disappointment at postponing completing his invention later, he turns and faces Holly.

"Sorry, you have my full attention now."

"I'm so honored." Holly says with a smirk. "So do I ever get to meet her properly, this mud blood? You can introduce me as your midget friend."

"No I can't."

"How right you are. But seriously Arty, you don't have many friends, I'd like to meet her."

Artemis lets out a sigh, double checks the door to the study is closed, not that he hasn't already locked it before he began his work, but he has to be sure.

"Captain, of course that's not a plausible request." He doesn't want anyone besides Butler and him to know of the fairies existence, and he has a feeling even if he does introduce Holly as a friend, albeit a short friend, somehow that secret will weasel itself out. His parents don't even know of Holly.

"Besides, why would you want to meet her? Why would you want another human to know about your kind, or risk her finding out at the very least?"

Holly laughs. "It was a joke. Of course its not possible."

But it bothers her. Artemis is having to deal with two major parts of his life; the fairies and missions, and his human family and friends. Lately, Holly has been wanting to be more than just one part of his life, however impossible it is, and she especially wishes he'll get over his obsessive need to keep her at a distance by always referring to her as captain, never her first name. Her mind wanders to Artemis's upcoming birthday. Two parties, if she can convince Foaly to jump a chute with her to surprise Artemis. Two cakes, though it will be her first time making one so, then again, probably just one. Two groups of important people in his life, separated from each other. It has to be this way, but she wonders if it ever bothers him, if he ever thinks about it like this. Artemis doesn't seem to feel the burden of keeping secrets from his family, of course he wouldn't. Besides, he probably doesn't even realize his birthday is coming up anyway.

"What's the maid's name?" Holly asks to strike up the conversation again.

"Tinsley."

A knock on the door jolts them from their conversation.

"Artemis?" Its Tinsley, on schedule to clean the study.

"One second." He calls, quickly shoving Holly's helmet and wings into the vault with his project, as Holly shields then sits on top of the vault, not wanting to miss out on what could be a particularly interesting scene.

Artemis opens the door to let Tinsley in, who is smiling and energetic despite having just finished clean five of the manor's massive rooms. She holds a small plastic bag in one hand and a bucket full of cleaning supplies in the other.

"Artemis, how is it going? I haven't seen you at all today!"

"I've been adding the final touches to an invention." Artemis says, knowing Tinsley knows better than to ask for details; she learned her lesson the first time she inquired about one of his inventions.

"You didn't eat breakfast or lunch." Tinsley says strategically changing the topic. She pulls a few containers out of the plastic bag. "So I brought you an apple, some broccoli, but don't worry it won't be gross because butler helped me make this sauce he said you liked to drizzle on it. Oh and, I snuck in a bag of sour cream and onion chips because I thought you might like some junk food. And Dr. Pepper to drink, though I don't know what soda you like, but you strike me as Dr. Pepper kind of guy."

Artemis grabs the bag, mumbles thanks and walks out of the room. He doesn't see Tinsley's hurt reaction towards his cold indifference at her efforts, but Holly does. Tinsley shrugs it off and plugs in her outdated Mp3 player's headphones to jam out as she cleans. She has been working as a maid and babysitter for the Fowl family for a couple of weeks now, and Artemis is the only one who remains cold towards her. She isn't sure why; if he was that mad about her attempted robbery, he shouldn't have hired her in the first place. She knows that's not it, as the days at the estate have increased, little by little so has her understanding of him. And her understanding is he's a very calculating person who doesn't trust easily, so she has her work cut out for her.

Holly watches for a while as the girl belts out I will Survive until the study is sparkling.


	6. Broadway baby!

"Tinsley, what do you think about a Broadway themed party?" Angeline asks as she flips through a catalogue. Ever since she informed Tinsley about Artemis's upcoming birthday earlier today, it has been all she can talk about.

"What?" Tinsley says, a little sheepish for having been caught not paying attention. Since yesterday in the library, her whole thinking process has revolved around tactics to get Artemis to open up to her. She wants to know him better.

"Artemis's surprise birthday party, dear." She turns a page of the catalogue, scans it with a disgusted face before closing it and shoving it to the end of the kitchen table. "Of course, none of these cheap party supplies are usable, I'll have to hire a party planner I suppose. But what do you think about a Broadway theme? I could hire a team to actually put on a musical and -"

"If I might -" Tinsley interrupts, both Angeline and her current job of mopping the dining room's floor, to have a seat next to Angeline. "I don't know how well a Broadway themed party would suit Artemis. He does seem to have an appreciation for the fine arts-"

"Yes, yes, exactly!" Angeline only hears support for her Broadway Idea. Tinsley only seen Artemis's bedroom once, the second day of her employment, and instead of posters like normal teenagers have, his walls are covered in famous works of art, and she has a sneaking suspicion some of them are the original. Of course, he walked in on her vacuuming his floor and told her, quite sternly, this room is his responsibility to clean and he would appreciate it if she didn't set foot in it again without his permission. The memory makes Tinsley's heart sink; maybe getting close to Artemis is impossible.

"I think we should invite all our higher class friends, maybe he can meet a pretty girl from a wealthy family and they'll click and then he won't spend all his time locked up in either his study or room!" Angeline is glowing at the thought.

A big party, Tinsley already knows enough about him to know this, is definitely not going to be a good surprise for Artemis. He tries to avoid people whenever possible, but he can't avoid a crowd of people gathered at his house to celebrate his birthday. Angeline is set on this idea though.

"You can serve the guests appetizers on a gold colored tray, as they mingle in the large entrance room and later we'll lead them to a room where there will be a makeshift stage and then the performance will begin, oh its wonderful!" She rushes to the phone and starts making calls, arrangements for a party Tinsley is sure Artemis is going to loathe.

Artemis hands Holly the helmet and wings he shoved in the vault yesterday. Holly stretches her neck before slipping the helmet on, trying to get rid of the kink in it, a result of sleeping on the study's leather couch last night. She decided yesterday to just crash at the manor instead of going back to Haven when she would just have to start her routine inspection of the magic ritual grounds today.

"About Tinsley -" Holly says, gauging Artemis's reaction to see if its okay to continue with the topic. As usual, his poker face reveals nothing. Indifference. "I think you should be nicer to her."

Artemis gives her his version of a surprised look. "You do fully realize who you are requesting this from, correct?"

Holly slips on her wings and does a quick preflight check with them as she speaks. "I know being all nice isn't your forte, but Tinsley seems to need a good friend."

"Beckett and Myles do quite well with that, as well do my mother and father. Even Butler has warmed up to her, he's been teaching her different recipes and he doesn't check her purse for security leaked information anymore. I think she's fine."

Holly shrugs her shoulders, deciding not to push it. Artemis has evolved over the course of their friendship, but caring about people; on a certain level, he still isn't able to fully open up to it. Secretly, Holly worries he will open up to Tinsley and she'll be replaced or become not as important, but she quickly pushes her childish jealousy away. A normal, human friend, a normal human _girl_ friend will be good for him, and she wants to see it happen.

"She's too trusting." Artemis says quietly, as if thinking outloud. "And naïve. She has to be the most naïve person I've ever met."

Holly laughs. "Yeah, as far as personalities go, I'd say you two are polar opposites. But maybe she'll teach you a few things about yourself, Arty."

Artemis normally would be insulted at the idea someone had something to teach him, but he doesn't argue. After all, Holly has brought out some sides to him he wasn't aware he had. She certainly has taught him a few things about himself; not enough to commit to her moral code, but enough to make him reevaluate his. So yes, he is aware there a possibility Tinsley also could teach him a few things about himself, but he isn't sure he wants to learn about them.


	7. Art therapy

Tinsley started attending Coffman High School in Dublin; though she started a couple weeks late, it seemed not to be a problem. Artemis found out he is no longer allowed to set foot on St. Bartleby's School for Gentlemen's campus due to his (and this is a direct quote from the principal) "uncooperative attitude and general vindictiveness." So it is no surprise really what happens next.

"Artemis, I've enrolled you in Coffman High School for your senior year!" Angeline beams at supper.

Artemis drops his fork and it clatters against a china plate. "What did you say mother?"

"I said -"

"Nevermind, I heard it, I just don't want to believe it. I refuse to attend."

"I won't force you to watch the twins on Saturdays." Angeline says.

With Saturdays free, he'll have more time to plan, to think, but he's still not happy with the price he's paying for it.

"Fine." He grumbles before dismissing himself to his room.

"So, about Tinsley." Butler says, as he cleans his Sig Sauer. Artemis heaves a noticeable sigh of annoyance. It seems everyone is bringing her up, and he doesn't want to talk about it.

"Butler, before you continue that sentence, please do me a favor and don't," Artemis says.

"I just want to know one thing." Butler is the only one Artemis will allow to push a topic he doesn't want to be pushed, so he knows he can get Artemis to open up a little bit.

"Yes, and what is that?"

"You hired her to work for you, and yet you avoid her like the plague. I'm just curious as to why."

Artemis cringes ever so slightly. Whenever he is around Tinsley, he has noticed he is distracted. He can't focus as well, and a criminal mastermind who can't focus is not a criminal mastermind at all. So he's been avoiding that situation.

"Her job is neither to socialize with me, nor am I required to socialize with her. She's simply here to work." Artemis informs Butler dryly.

There is a knock on the door. "Um, Artemis."

Artemis opens the door to reveal a very tired looking Tinsley. It appears working at the estate and juggling school are starting to take their toll on her. She hands him a ticket to an upcoming art exhibit on September first, and another one to Butler. She keeps the last one.

"Angeline thinks we should all go." Tinsley is trying to smile, but Artemis can tell she's expecting him to say no.

"Fine." He says, surprising even himself at how quickly he makes the decision.

"Oh, okay, well - cool." Tinsley says, with a genuine smile, the smile that is the very source of Artemis's distraction.

Tinsley leaves, excited for the upcoming day, and Artemis quickly allows his heart to calm itself. Is it going to be like this every time he encounters a pretty girl who has a nice smile, he wonders, filled with panic and dread at the thought.

Artemis starts school on the second of September, so he has mixed emotions during the drive to the art exhibit on the first. Of course, Tinsley is being optimistic enough about it for him; she talks on and on about how the students are so very nice, and how she's sure he'll make some good friend. Artemis says nothing, he merely nods in the appropriate places to make it seem as though he's paying attention. Honestly, what does Tinsley mistake him for, a socialite? Of course he is not going to make many friends at school, he doesn't want to. Still, in a small way, Tinsley's smiling face makes the inevitable events of tomorrow seem not so bad.

The art exhibit is about an hours drive from the manor, but the time passes quickly. As they pull up to the museum housing the exhibit, Artemis adjusts the tie of his Armani suit while Tinsley straightens the wrinkles out of the pale blue dress Angeline lent her for the occasion. Finally, Artemis allows the prospect of looking at art to soothe his nerves.

_Tomorrow can wait; today, I am going to enjoy a few masterpieces. _ Artemis thinks as Butler opens the museum door for Tinsley and him.

Half an hour or so passes, all too quickly for Artemis who spends at least ten minutes per painting to fully examine the artistic details of it. Butler taps him on the shoulder. "Artemis, I don't see Tinsley anywhere."

Artemis is annoyed at the interruption.

"She probably went to the restroom." He says quickly.

Tinsley returns a few minutes later, and Artemis notices she puts her phone back in the matching pale blue hand bag Angeline lent her. So she must have been making a phone call. Not only that, but she now looks on the verge of tears. He doesn't know how to ask what's wrong, he's afraid it will cause her to start crying as she explains it. The trio spend another two hours there before Artemis reluctantly allows them to head back home.


	8. Birthday fun  sort of

"Okay, crew, he'll be here any minute, so make it quick!" Angeline is starting to get in touch with her nagging side, and she is thoroughly enjoying it. So many details to setting up her little boy's birthday party, so little time. Speaking of time, she has to quickly change before the guests start arriving in twenty or so minutes. She dismisses herself to let the crew finish the sound check on the stage and finish adjusting the curtains and fly in scenery for the musical production to be performed later, confident all the details are in place or will be in place in time for the show. She even allows herself a minute to marvel at the George M. Cohan statue now standing in her grand entrance hall, a direct connection to times square as he's the only Broadway performer to have a statue there.

By the time Artemis returns home, the estate is already filled with cars and limousines, and from the house he can hear the voices of a crowd mingling.

"What is going on here?" He asks in horror.

Tinsley jumps out of the car the moment it is stopped, and darts to the house to start serving the appetizers. Artemis and Butler proceed toward the party, but Artemis clearly isn't happy about it.

"What is it today, Butler?" Artemis asks.

"The first, sir."

Artemis still doesn't make the connection until he steps inside to be greeted by a roomful of strangers who yell "SURPRISE!" and a huge golden banner that reads Happy Birthday Arty! It takes all his restraint not to high tail it out of the room at that moment.

The crowd continues to fraternize for a good hour. A few say hi to Artemis, wishing him a happy birthday. Mostly the wealthy parent's daughters, wanting to take a stab at the Fowl fortune.

"Excuse me!" Everyone turns their attention to Angeline, wearing a breathtakingly beautiful black Christian Dior dress. She thought black would be the most dramatic. "If you will all file into this room, I have a surprise for everyone."

_Oh, god, kill me now_.

Artemis has a seat next to Angeline as she insists. Tinsley has a seat in the back, as she just finished helping get the buffet table ready for after the production. She seems fine now, Artemis notes before turning his attention to the stage where the curtains have come up, and the overture for Les Misérables begins. The performance is breathtakingly well performed; Angeline hired professionals to play all the parts, and it shows. The scenery, the performance, everything is captivating and Artemis is starting to enjoy it, until the song On My Own.

As Éponine belts out the song of her unrequited love, Artemis can't help notice Tinsley, by the end of it is crying quite heavily, and he's not altogether certain it has to do with just the performance. Especially since, right after everyone exits the room at the end of the play, he notices Tinsley slip away from the crowd, still visibly upset.


	9. First day at Coffman

Today is Artemis's first day at Coffman High School. The thought has him too nauseous to eat anything for breakfast, but Tinsley seems perky enough about it for the both of them. She seems to have recovered from whatever she had been upset about last night, although, and maybe its just his imagination, but her smile feels forced.

"Hurry up, you two. We have to leave now." Butler presses, grabbing Artemis's backpack and shoving it in the back seat of the car. Tinsley takes a seat in the back, and looks out the window. Artemis takes the other window seat in back. Butler pulls out of the driveway, and Artemis thinks, now, she'll speak now…but Tinsley remains uncharacteristically quiet during the drive. What happened to her early morning enthusiasm?

"um…" Tinsley says, hesitant to say something. Artemis glances over at her, slightly annoyed.

_If she has something to say, she should just say it, as per her normal self_.

"I am going to go to Limerick today, after school." She says quietly.

Artemis doesn't think much of it; perhaps she misses some of her old friends in Limerick and wants to spend a day or so with them. In any event, it isn't his business to know, or care. Still, he finds, on a certain level, his heart sinks a tinge Tinsley won't be on the drive home after school with him, an involuntary feeling he doesn't appreciate. Maybe, he fears, despite having done his best to avoid it, he is starting to get comfortable with Tinsley's presence in his life. A little too comfortable.

"Alright." He says, revealing nothing about his inner thoughts. Indifference.

"Oh - okay, well thanks." Tinsley says.

Tinsley has most of the same classes as Artemis, both of them being seniors and needing almost the same credit courses to graduate, so Artemis tags along keeping quiet. He sits in the back of each classroom, Tinsley sits in the front row, scribbling down notes during the lectures like there is no tomorrow. Artemis doesn't even pull out a textbook or notebook, of course there is nothing new in this curriculum for him to learn.

The morning classes go by quickly for him, mostly because he decides to observe the classmates interactions and tune out the lectures. Someone drops a note and scrambles to pick it up before the teacher notices. Another writes KICK ME on a post it note and sticks it on the back of the student in front of him. Its all very juvenile, and a horrendous waste of time, but its also somewhat entertaining. He can tell already that the girl named Jules likes a guy who he believes is named Max, if he's not mistaken, because she keeps on glancing over at him every five seconds.

Lunchtime, and he follows Tinsley to the cafeteria. Artemis takes a tray of food on which there is only one thing he can recognize as edible, but he doesn't plan to chance it. Tinsley sits down at a table by herself and motions him over, a smile on her face.

_Hmmm, if I remember correctly, which I do, she said she had friends, so why is she sitting by herself?_

He dismisses the thought and takes a seat. As he does, one by one girls flock to his table, and so do a few guys who talk to Tinsley about some things Artemis can't quite catch.

"I'm Dasha." A girl with blond curly hair says. "Welcome to Coffman."

Artemis doesn't show any sign of happiness at the welcome. "Thanks."

"My name is Christy!" A brunette adds. "I hope you it here."

_I doubt I will, _Artemis wants to say, but just nods.

"So," Dasha says, glancing between Artemis and Tinsley, "I saw you two arrive at school together. Are you guys dating or something?"

Tinsley shoots Dasha a mean glare, one Artemis hasn't seen on her yet, but its on its way to being as scary as Butler's. So she too is getting frustrated with the assumption they are an item.

The cafeteria's intercom makes a crackling noise, and a woman's tired voice says: "Tinsley Collins, you're needed in the office."

Tinsley stands up, slings on her backpack and picks up her tray.

"My _boyfriend_ is here to pick me up." She says before leaving, making sure everyone at the table hears.


	10. Unexpected Visitor

Artemis panics as soon as Tinsley leaves. All the eyes of the group are focused on him.

"Tough break, man." A broad shouldered guy sitting next to Dasha says.

"Ahh, I thought you two make a cute couple." Christy says. "But I'm available. You know."

Artemis raises an eyebrow, thoroughly confused at the conversation. "What?"

It takes a moment for Tinsley's last line to sink in.

_"My boyfriend is here to pick me up."_

For whatever reason, that bothers Artemis. So she has a boyfriend, Artemis thinks to himself, why is it any of my concern? It isn't, he assures himself as he picks up his tray of untouched food and heads to his next class.

"Mom?" Tinsley says quietly in the chair next to the hospital bed.

"Hey, honey." Her mom says softly. The sight of her mom has Tinsley on the verge of tears, but she acts strong; the bandages, the casts on her arm and leg, its all overwhelming.

"Mom, I love you." Tinsley whispers.

"I love you too, hon." She struggles a little bit, trying to get comfortable without moving her left arm and leg, both had suffered tremendous bone fracturing in the accident. She is pale, and she's lost weight, Tinsley notices.

"So what's going on in your life?" Her mother asks

Tinsley has already informed her mother of Artemis and her decision to work as maid and babysitter. Her mother has heard her gush about Myles and Beckett, speak in amazement of Butlers culinary expertise _and _amazing fighting skills. All this was covered in Tinsley's last visit, but that had been happier. Neither of them were saying what they wanted to, the reason Tinsley had been in such a rush to visit.

"I lied to Artemis today." Tinsley confesses. "I told him I had a boyfriend. I thought it'd make it easier for him at our school if people didn't assume we are in a relationship."

Her mother coughs. "Is that what you want, Tinsley? Him to assume you're in a relationship? I thought you liked him."

Tinsley's eyes widen. "I -I completely don't know what you're talking about."

"You're such an open book." Her mother chuckles.

Tinsley has to admit, Artemis has been on her mind a lot, and sometimes when he is, she smiles a little bigger, and it makes her a little bit happier, but that is because he's helped her and she appreciates it. He's not straightforward, she can never tell what he's thinking, and he probably doesn't even see her as a friend.

The doctor enters the room. "We're almost ready for the surgery to begin."

Tinsley nods, tears beginning to spill out.

"I love you mom." She says one more time.

Her mother smiles at her. "Don't act like this is goodbye."

By the time Tinsley arrives back at the manor, Artemis has already finished the final touches of his brain probe and is contemplating who would be a possible candidate for its test run.

Tinsley knocks on the door of the study, Beckett is on her shoulders, a big grin spread across his face.

"Artemis, can you please help me with my math homework?" Tinsley asks as she sets Beckett down. Artemis doesn't want to be bothered by this, but Tinsley has that pleading look in her eyes.

"Alright." He concedes.

"Thanks so much!" Tinsley returns a second later with her math textbook and notebook. Artemis glances at her notes; they were nothing more than doodles of random faces and circles meant to be the beginning of faces, and not even decent at that. She looks a tad sheepish. "Um…I didn't understand anything."

He lifts the notebook up. "I can see why. Well, let's see what I can do."

About half an hour later, Artemis is at the end of his rope.

"Its just covering triple integrals in cylindrical coordinates, this is elementary!" He says flustered.

"Sorry." Tinsley looks just as flustered as him. She tries another problem, and Artemis watches, not her work, but her face. Her thinking face as she tries so hard to solve what comes so naturally to him is funny. it's the only reason he's been able to stick with helping her out on her homework for so long. She shoves the piece of paper to him, with the most recent answer she's come up with.

"Wrong." Artemis sighs, defeated. "You're kind of an idiot."

Tinsley laughs, but it's a bit hurt. "Oh, yeah, I suppose."

All of the sudden Tinsley is knocked out her chair by something. She lets out a startled yelp as Holly un-shields in front of Artemis and Tinsley's horrified faces.


	11. Exposed

"D'arvit!" Holly exclaims before crashing head first into the wall, during which Artemis runs as he has never ran before to lock the study's door. "This is the last time I test fly one of Foaly's new pair of wings!" She says as she stands and dusts herself off.

"Your shield, Captain?" Artemis inquires sharply, his eyes move from Holly to Tinsley, to make Holly realize what she has just done.

"Its been a while, Arty." Holly says, and Artemis catches the double meaning. Its been a while since she's performed the ritual.

_When is she ever going to learn to not procrastinate on that? _

"I'm so sorry!" Holly says to Tinsley, not sure what else to say at the moment.

Artemis assesses the situation, from the horrified face of Tinsley's to Holly's paling complexion. What to say, how to explain it to Tinsley, its not looking good. The only saving grace is, if all else fails, he can arrange for Tinsley to have a minor mind wipe. That's not going to fix the dent in the wall where Holly made contact in the crash landing, but that's not as big an issue at the moment. It does become a mental note in the back of his mind as something he'll have to come up with a lie for later. Regarding the bigger problem at hand currently, perhaps he can pass Holly off as human, provided she doesn't remove her helmet so Tinsley can't see her ears.

"This is my friend, Holly Short." Artemis says quickly. "She's a member of an - elite - police force, and as you can see, they're coming up with new technology to assist them in duty. The invisibility shield and wings are in progress."

Tinsley still is in shock from being crashed into and then seeing someone appear out of nowhere, but a few seconds of breathing steadily in and out and she allows herself to process Artemis's words. Artemis breathes a slight sigh of relief as Tinsley's eyes shine with acceptance.

"Hi, Holly. I'm Tinsley."

Holly can't believe how quickly she bought it, but its just as well.

"Hi. Its nice to meet a friend of Artemis." Holly says, excited that fate has allowed the opportunity. Today, in a strange way, just keeps getting better for her.

"Captain, how did you become the test subject for Foaly's latest invention?"

Holly removes the wings; the right wing is bent near the tip, but other than that they look in good condition. It must have been a problem with the wiring. Whatever the problem is, it caused her to lose complete control.

"He told me they're faster than the older version, so I decided to take the chance. because I have fantastic news to tell you Arty!" It must be great news if Holly is acting this cheerful despite having just almost been found out by a human.

"Trouble proposed to me today, Arty! And I said YES!" Holly is the happiest Artemis has ever seen her. If the situation had been different, he might have allowed himself to take the opportunity to fully appreciate it. As it is, he's not for certain Tinsley completely believes his lie.

"Are you okay?" Tinsley asks Holly suddenly. "There's blood dripping down your neck -"

Holly almost swears again. She hadn't noticed the warm blood trickling down from a wound right below her ear. The impact against the wall had done more damage than she originally thought.

"I'm fine." Holly says quickly.

"Are you -" Tinsley stands up in a rush to closer examine the wound, and in that moment a couple things happen. She loses her balance, crashing into Holly, which sends Holly against the wall, which causes her Helmet to fall off, revealing her clearly non-human ears. "-sure?"


	12. Fail genius

"I knew it!" Tinsley whispers. "You must be a…a…fairy, right?"

Holly backs as far against the wall as she can, knowing she has no choice but to admit the truth, but hoping Artemis is coming up with one of his genius plans to get them out of this one. "Yes…"

Artemis finds Tinsley's reaction interesting: she knows? How?

"My mother used to tell me this story from when she was a little girl." Tinsley says, answering his question before he even asks it. "One day she was playing by a river and for fun she was throwing rocks into the water. When she threw one, it hit something midair before splashing into the river; and from the spot where the rock hit, right at impact, she heard a scream of pain before another huge splash, too big to be caused by the rock, occurs. And then, a human form only visible by the water clinging to it emerged from the water and flies off. I've always wanted to believe her, so when I just saw you appear out of nowhere, I was hoping you were a -" she drops her voice to a whisper, to make sure nobody eavesdropping in the hallway can hear her. "fairy!"

A strange hope to have, but it is Tinsley after all, so it doesn't surprise Artemis.

Artemis's time to step in. "Tinsley, I'm afraid you weren't supposed to find out -"

"I can keep a secret!" Tinsley insists. "I promise, my lips are sealed."

"I'll have to talk to Foaly about this." Holly says, picking up her helmet. Foaly has been listening in on the conversation through the helmet, so there's no need to catch him up to speed.

"Are my wings okay?" Is the first thing he asks.

"Geez, I'm fine and everything." Holly mutters. "The wings look - fixable."

"Can I speak to Artemis?"

Holly hands the helmet to Artemis with a scowl. "For you. The fail genius wants to talk to the devious genius."

"Yes, Foaly?" Artemis says.

"Can you fix my wings?"

"I don't think that's the main issue here - but naturally, of course, and when _I _fix them they won't malfunction."

Foaly lets out a noise that sounds like a growl, but decides not to discuss the wing's mechanical error to prevent damaging his ego further. "Can Tinsley keep her mouth shut, Fowl?"

Artemis glances at her, and in that second decides to put as much trust in her as she has in him; he is surprised at how easy he finds it to trust her. "Yes."

"Well, I've been monitoring her actions as I monitor your house sometimes by tapping into the security camera feed. I don't see her as a threat to the people. Unless she comes down here and decides to start singing. Then we might have issues. Just don't tell her details about the fairy rituals or where we live, and I don't see a problem. This is kind of going against a few policies though, so lets just keep this between us."

Actually, Foaly thinks the prospect of seeing Artemis fall in love with Tinsley will be fun to watch, certainly something he can tease him about. Oh, yes, payback for the dozens of sarcastic insults Artemis has thrown his way. If he has Tinsley mind wiped, it will spoil the fun.

"So, are you saying -?"

"No mind wipe for now. I don't think the situation is critical enough for that. I will be keeping a close eye on it though. And please, for gods sake, don't let any more mud people find out about us."

"And whose fault is it again that we're in this situation?"

"Hanging up now, Fowl."

He takes off the helmet to find that Tinsley is back to her normal skin color; Artemis has to say, he's impressed with how quickly she is managing to cope with it. Most people in her shoes at the moment would be scared; too scared to think logically, but her simplemindedness seems to come in handy in select situations.

"So, how did you two meet?" She asks. The last of the panic is washing off her face; she's simply excited to meet one of Artemis's friends. She worries Artemis will find her a bit stupid to so easily go along with it, to not question it and freak out, and honestly if he asks how she can so easily accept it, the reason might sound ridiculous to him. At this moment, Tinsley realizes a door to a part of Artemis's life that he's kept closed to her is open, and that makes her happy enough to face this event positively. She doesn't need to make use of her list of tactics to get Artemis to open up to her after all.

Artemis and Holly glance at each other; obviously, Holly is going to leave it up to him to decide how much to tell her, but that's probably not one of her better choices.

Artemis finds himself strangely happy at the opportunity to let Tinsley in on his ever-so-well-kept secret. The only thing he's afraid of is how Tinsley will see him when he is finished, as his criminal acts and Holly are intertwined. If Tinsley can accept him after she fully understands who he is, what he's capable of and what he's done…his heart is racing with the possibility. He tries not to think of what will happen if it backfires; if Tinsley refuses to associate with someone who doesn't think twice about stealing.

"Well, you see Tinsley -" He starts, "I'm not as nice as you like to believe."


	13. Unwanted?

Artemis briefly highlights his illegal ventures, describing how Holly became involved when he kidnapped her to his latest mission where he suffers from Atlantis Complex. Tinsley hangs on his every word, but as the story progresses, he notices she grows paler. By the end of it she looks overwhelmed.

_Please, please, don't shut me out now_, Artemis finds himself pleading, but he doesn't show how vital her view of him is externally. Holly knows how important it is to him though, so when Tinsley is speechless after he concludes, she feels a tight knot forming in her stomach. Holly decides to play cupid.

"I'll be staying in your room tonight while Artemis fixes my wings." She tells Tinsley, knowing Artemis will have no objections; after all, Tinsley's room is the farthest away from the other bedroom so it holds the least chance of discovery.

"Oh - well, sure." Tinsley says, distracted by the millions of conflicting thoughts racing around in her head. "I'll - go - set up a bed for you."

She leaves without another word.

Holly turns to Artemis. He looks distressed, at least as distressed as he'll allow himself to look.

"Arty, look, it's a lot for her to soak in for one day. Give her some time."

Artemis nods, trying his best to act as if it doesn't bother him at all.

But it does. More than he wants to admit to himself.

He tries to distract himself, motioning Holly to help him move the desk against the wall with the dent to cover it up. He may not have a lot of muscles and Holly is so small the desk could swallow her whole, but between the two, they manage. Artemis replays the scene over and over.

She walked out without a word as to what she thought. The sound of her footsteps as she leaves. The scent of her perfume had wafted through the air as she stood; he hadn't noticed at the time, but it was a vanilla scent. All of this, without a word.

Her silence must mean….she doesn't want a criminal as a friend…

Holly sneaks into the room around one that night, after she's certain everyone is asleep so no one will see her. Her neck is giving her a sharp pain every now and then, and she's not looking forward to sleeping on the guest room's couch, but tomorrow morning she has things to say to Tinsley and doesn't want to miss the chance.

To her surprise, she finds Tinsley has fallen asleep on the couch, leaving the bed for Holly. Did she intend to fall asleep on the couch, or was it by accident? Knowing as much as she does about her, Holly concludes it must be that Tinsley opted for the couch because she is being nice.

As Holly tucks herself into bed, amazed at how comfortable it is, she hears a murmur. Afraid someone is outside the door, she hides herself under the covers, only to realize a second later its Tinsley, mumbling in her sleep.

"Artemis, I'll get the right answer for sure this time…" She says. "Don't leave…"


	14. Runaway

When Holly wakes up, Tinsley is gone. She must have been in a hurry to leave because there is an object on the floor in front of the chair her purse had been on last night when Holly entered the room, an object that must have fallen out of her purse in Tinley's mad dash. It's a present, signed to Artemis.

Artemis is already awake and at work on repairing Holly's wings when she barges in, upset at the news she has to report, and for the lost opportunity to speak to Tinsley.

"Tinsley's gone, Artemis."

Artemis's stomach sinks with fear.

_Has she ran away? Does she really hate me that much now?_

As if she can read his mind, Holly says, "She doesn't hate you, trust me."

"And on what evidence should I base this trust?"

Holly puts the present, a small box, in his hand. Inside is a simple keychain with a solid silver metal circle at the end, on which is inscribed: _The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good - Ann Landers_. A small piece of paper falls out of the box. Tinsley wrote him a message.

_I saw this and thought of you because you helped me out when I needed it and I feel I haven't been able to do much in return - but I am thankful, believe me. Happy 18__th__ birthday, to the nicest person I've ever met! Seriously _

"Did Butler drive her somewhere?" Artemis asks, trying to remain calm and think logically, but he is becoming overwhelmed with emotions; happy to see she cared about him enough to buy him a gift, horrified her perception of him might be irrevocably smashed. He puts the keychain back in the box, only momentarily allowing himself to wonder why she didn't give it to him on his birthday.

"I don't know -" Holly admits, embarrassed for not seeing if that was the case first.

"Perhaps she went to Limerick -" Artemis says as someone knocks on the study's door. Its Butler.

"Did Tinsley tell you where she is going this morning?" Artemis asks Butler as he steps inside the room and relocks the door.

Butler shakes his head. "I didn't see her leave, but this morning as I was doing the routine security check on the car I noticed her car is gone. She left sometime around six I'd say."

For only a split second, Artemis second guesses the trust he put in Tinsley yesterday, and its long enough to make him feel guilty for doubting her. But why would she just run off? He can only think of one answer, and it hits him like a punch to the stomach each time it repeats in his mind, making it difficult to breathe.

_She doesn't want to stay here anymore, because she knows who and what I am_. _I'm not the nicest person to her anymore._

His phone vibrates. It's a text.

He lets out a noticeable sigh of relief. Butler and Holly watch this scene in amazement; never before has Artemis been such an….open book.

**I'm sorry I couldn't tell you yesterday what I really want to, and also for leaving and not telling you this morning, I was just in such a rush. I'm going to be in Limerick for a few days. Don't worry I'll be back ASAP, and I have things to tell you.**

Artemis rereads it, trying to make sense of it. The message fills him with an overwhelming feeling of dread. Something is wrong, he's sure of it.

"She's in Limerick." He says out loud to let everyone else in on this development.

"But we have no idea where at." Butler points out, trying to escape a pointless goose chase.

"That's not true." Artemis informs him, pulling up a GPS software system on his laptop. "I installed a tracking device in her car in case she tried to run off. After all, I don't want her leaving until my loan is fully reimbursed."

Holly and Butler know that's not the only reason, but they just hold back their urge to tease and let Artemis jot down the coordinates.

"Say, Arty, Isn't that a little stalkerish?" Okay, so only Butler suppresses a playful tease. Holly can't resist. Artemis pretends not to hear it.

"Right now her car's at a Travel lodge Hotel."

Tinsley continues sobbing into her hotel bed pillow, what she's been doing for the last hour. Artemis, no matter what, can't see her like this. So broken. She doesn't want him to see her in this state, but with no one to give her any words of encouragement or sympathy, even just their presence, she can't find the will to stop crying.

"I didn't even get to tell her…." She starts this sentence, but it is broken by a heaving sob. "That I believe her. That I know her childhood story was true. I wanted to tell her."

Her phone rings, an up tempo jingle that doesn't fit the situation. She has a text.

** I am on my way. I have some things to tell you as well. **


	15. Kind of Sort of Maybe

"Stay in the car, Captain." Artemis says as he steps out.

"Yeah, yeah," Holly mutters.

Artemis bribes Tinsley's room number out of the hotel worker at the front desk with only one of Butler's threatening glares. Just one before he caves and reveals what is supposed to be secure information for the safety of the hotel's visitors.

A few minutes later and he's standing in front of her door on the second floor.

"Tinsley?"

Muffled cries, that's all he can hear through the door. Then soft footsteps, coming closer.

"Artemis…" Tinsley opens the door slowly. Her eyes are swollen and red from crying. Her hair is messed up from lying on the bed, on which there is now a tear soaked pillow. Artemis feels a stab at his heart. He may be a criminal mastermind, but the thought of someone crying alone touches him like any other normal person.

"Tinsley, what is going on?"

"My mom…the surgery…" There's a pause as she finds the ability to say the last words, words she's quickly having to come to terms with. "She didn't make it."

Artemis smuggles Holly upstairs in a suitcase he's brought so he won't raise suspicion, and drops her off in Tinsley's room. Its only at this moment she swears never to procrastinate on the ritual again, as it's a result of this she can't shield and is forced into this more unconventional method of discreetness.

"Keep her company, Butler and I have some errands to run and arrangements to make."

Holly gives him a scowl, the suitcase trip has given her a few bruises and put her in a bad mood.

"Fine."

When Butler and Artemis leave, she doesn't know what to say.

"Um - so - you really don't hate that Artemis is a criminal right?"

It's the first thing that popped into her mind. Well, if it distracts Tinsley from focusing on her mother's death for the moment, then it works out.

"No!" Tinsley's response is immediate and almost sounds as if she's offended.

"It doesn't bother you at all?" Holly asks, suspicious. After all, most normal people would probably stop being friends with someone who earned his fortune by stealing, and in one event, kidnapping. Not that Holly wants Tinsley to stop being friends with Artemis, that's not it all. She just wants to know what Tinsley really feels about it. "You don't think he's a bad person for it?"

Her plan to distract Tinsley works; Tinsley eyes return to their normal state, no longer looking soulless.

"I think - the line between good and bad isn't as clear as everyone would like to believe. Besides, as if I'm perfect enough to label someone as a good or bad person."

"I don't understand. If its that simple, then why couldn't you say that to Artemis yesterday?" Holly inquires, slightly annoyed she'd had to see Artemis's distressed face when it might have been prevented.

"I realized during his story just how different Artemis and I are. I kept thinking, if its like this, there's no way I can really be his friend. We're on different levels completely. Its not that I didn't know all along, that he's this genius and I'm just this person of average intelligence who can't even figure out triple integrals in cylindrical coordinates to save my life, but it just smacked me in the face and it hurt. He's discovering other worlds, other species, making complex fail proof plans, and I'm just - its just - I mean, because I -" Tinsley pauses, not sure if she wants to finish. She doesn't feel she has anything to lose. "-I kind of sort of maybe really like Artemis, so it was overwhelming."

"So you think he's too good for you?" Holly finds it ironically funny such an innocent person would believe a criminal mastermind is too good for her, but this is Tinsley after all.

"Yes, that's it!"

Holly smiles. "You don't have to worry about that. There's an old Italian Proverb: at the end of the game, the King and Pawn go back in the same box. You don't have to think of him so highly. He doesn't need a bigger ego anyway. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses."

Tinsley allows a smidge of a smile. "Thanks."

Holly awards herself another point in playing cupid. That'll be two now altogether; giving Artemis the present, and now giving Tinsley the confidence to act on her feelings. But speaking of the present…

"Why didn't you give Arty the birthday present you bought for him?"

Tinsley's eyes widen in shock. "Oh no, did he find it!"

"Well - sort of."

"Did he hate it? Dasha and Christy said it was a lame gift, so I decided not to chance it. Of course, Dasha and Christy, I've discovered, have only been being my friends because they want to get close to Artemis - well, his fortune. But that isn't important right now, did he hate it?"

Actually, his face as he'd read the inscription and the message had been one of happiness. He had smiled, a soft expression he doesn't display on normal occasions.

"Not at all." Holly answers.


	16. Mistakes

"I'm afraid I don't understand - you're saying all the expenses of the funeral are covered, and the hospital debt is being dropped?" Artemis questions the secretary at the front desk of the hospital in which Tinsley's mother has passed on.

"Shhsh!" The secretary hisses.

Artemis is quickly losing his patience. "If this is a conversation that must take place outside the earshot of the general public, I'd be obliged if you could arrange a quiet room where I can talk to the doctor who was responsible for the surgery. Quickly."

The secretary shoots him a glare before leaving. Perfect. Artemis quickly hacks into the computer now left unguarded to access the information he needs.

The secretary returns a few minutes after he's wrapped up removing all his tracks on the computer's system, and leads Artemis and Butler to a room at the far end of a hall. The hospital seems to be an unwelcoming, endless maze. The doctor in the room isn't pleased.

"Excuse me, are you related to Mrs. Collins?" He asks as Artemis takes a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

"I happen to be her son." Artemis lies without batting an eye.

"I thought she only had a daughter. And -" The doctor looks at Butler, terrified. "him?"

"He's of no relation."

"Then he needs to leave this room."

Artemis looks at Butler, signaling its okay, and Butler steps outside.

"First off -" The doctor says, "I'm sorry for your loss."

"You mean, your mistake?"

"What?"

"Oh come on, let's not play dumb here, its an insult to my intelligence. One of your surgery staff made a fatal blunder during the operation, a perfectly preventable one. The hospital is dropping all of my mother's health debt she accumulated here and the funeral is being covered by a Mr. Flanders, who happens to have been on the surgery staff of her operation. I'm guessing he's the one who made the mistake? All this, in order to keep this under the table and me from suing this hospital, because you and I, we both know, what with the surgery video footage clearly capturing the careless incision, who would win that one."

Doctor Vicks looks horrified at Artemis's declaration. "Look - mistakes happen."

"And people die. An innocent person, in this instance." He stands and smoothes out the wrinkles of his suit. "I have to speak to my sister about whether we'll leave it like this. We'll be in touch."

Although, he's not certain how to tell this to Tinsley, or if he even should. Not now anyway, when the wound is so freshly opened.

The knock on the door startles both Holly and Tinsley, who had been absorbed in an episode of Friends. Tinsley looks through the peephole before letting Artemis and Butler in.

"You guys are back."

Her eyes are still puffy and swollen, and she doesn't want Artemis to see it, but she can't just not let him come into the room, that'd be rude.

"Yes, and we'll all be staying with you for a couple of days for the funeral. Butler has already reserved the room next door for us."

"That's -" Tinsley tries not to burst out in tears again and just barely manages. "Very nice of you. Thank you."

She suddenly blushes crimson red, remembering he's seen her present.

"Are you alright?" Artemis asks. "You're not developing a fever on top of everything are you?"

"No, thank you, I'm fine." Tinsley says quickly.

Artemis turns to leave when Holly grabs his arm and pulls him inside the room.

She wants him to say something, but he doesn't know what. Finally he makes a connection.

"Your present." He says suddenly. "Thank you. It's nice."

"Oh!" Tinsley grins, a little shyly. "I'm glad you like it."

Another cupid point for Holly Short.


	17. Silence

The visitation service is the next day, and Tinsley looks downright ill. There are dark rings under her eyes and she you can tell she's just not all there. The whole ride there, she just stares out her window. Artemis sees her eyes in the reflection on the glass and they just look empty, and lost, searching for something perhaps she thinks she'll find as she watches the world roll by in a blur. What can he say, to let her know if she needs to talk about it, he's all ears?

The funeral home is packed with people, and Tinsley doesn't recognize a single one. Artemis does, unfortunately. Mr. Flanders is in the back row of the seats, but there is no grief whatsoever on his face. It simply appears he's attending the event of an obligation, and maybe, to him, it is a twisted obligation to attend the funeral services of a person he's accidentally killed. It fills Artemis with disgust, but he shows and says nothing. Tinsley doesn't need to know.

Tinsley isn't crying; perhaps she'd already cried all her tears out last night. A woman standing in the corner is, though. Quite heavily. After everyone has finished chatting and paying their respects and the crowd has dwindled down, the woman approaches Tinsley as she dabs the last tears out of her eyes.

"Tinsley, dear?" She says, as if she's known Tinsley all her life. She has an American accent.

Tinsley looks at her confused. "Yes?"

"Don't you recognize me?" The woman asks.

"I'm sorry, no."

"Well, I suppose that would be the case. I haven't seen you since you were - well, you couldn't have been older than four."

"Aunt Farrah?"

Her face lights up. "You remember?"

Only bits and pieces of what her mother has told her. Actually, Tinsley's grandma and grandpa divorced when Her mother and Farrah had been little girls. Grandpa took Farrah with him to America. The whole thing had never had any effect on her life; she's gotten by without knowing her aunt, so much so she'd forgotten about her and her grandpa's existence, although Tinsley does remember her mother flying away when she was seven to attend his funeral. Well, her mom had never spoke about either of them, and they never bothered to visit. All she really knows about her is she has a slight drinking problem.

"Um - a little bit." Tinsley lies.

"Listen, I know you're dealing with a lot right now, and I want to help you through this."

"That's - nice." Tinsley says, not knowing what her aunt means.

"I want you to come live with me in America." She clarifies.

"I have to stay here." Tinsley says, thinking of the debt she has to repay.

Artemis is uncertain what to do. Tinsley no longer owes him, with the hospital debt being dropped, but if he tells her, she might go to America. On the other hand, if he keeps it a secret - no, friendship doesn't work like that, he knows this, and makes his decision.

"Tinsley -" Artemis grabs her wrist and pulls her aside, into a hallway so no one will interrupt the conversation. The touch of her warm hand sends a pulse of electricity through him, it makes him feel more alive. Its an incredible feeling, and yet the only reason he's experiencing it is to give the source of this feeling permission to leave. Tinsley pulls her hand away first when they reach the isolated spot. She's surprised at Artemis's sudden action and happy, but she isn't sure how to respond.

"Don't worry, I'll stay until I've repaid the loan." She insists.

"You no longer have to work for me and my family anymore. The debt is dropped." He says reluctantly.

Tinsley takes this news like a swift blow to the stomach. Wait, that's the wrong reaction, she tells herself. But, she knows that debt is the only thing tying her to Artemis, and that's a tie she doesn't want to come undone.

"I don't understand -"

"Don't worry about it anymore. You're free to do as you like."

_Free isn't the right word, that makes it sound like I was being held against my will_, Tinsley thinks.

"That's -" She can't find the right word to say. Horrible? The Worst? Sickening? "That's great."

_Now, tell me you want me to stay. Please, _Tinsley pleads, but she knows he won't. To him, isn't she only a friend? Friends move away sometimes, they take different paths in life. You love them, but sometimes for whatever reason you have to let them go. Someone you're _in_ love with, you plead for them to stay, you don't part unless necessary. Tinsley isn't arrogant enough to even consider Artemis likes her like that.

"There's where you two ran off to!" Farrah's voice is high pitched, on the verge of a shriek. "You didn't let me finish! You're mother was telling me you liked to dance, and I can get you an audition for a prestigious dance academy in America."

Tinsley looks at her, feeling sick to her stomach.

"Honestly, Tinsley dear, this isn't just for you. You've grown up to be a beautiful young woman and I wasn't a part of it. My sister is gone, and I just don't want another regret in my life. I'm sorry to drop this on you right now, but time is fleeting. I leave in a week, and I want you on the plane back with me."

Tinsley doesn't know what to do or say. If she doesn't owe Artemis, that means she no longer has to live as a maid, and that means - she isn't even sure if she is welcome to return to living in the manor. America might be nice. She loves dancing. Meeting new people is fun, might take her mind off of everything. She's always wanted to see the statue of liberty. The whole time she's thinking this, she still waits for Artemis to stop her, to say he doesn't want her to go, but he's speechless, and she knows better than to hope.

Before her mother passed on, she hadn't been thinking about her future. All she thought about was taking care of the hospital bills. Now she has the chance to live like a normal Senior girl in high school. Find a job to pay her way through school, spend too much on clothes, stay out late hanging out with friends. Plus, Aunt Farrah is her only blood relative. It makes sense to live with her. All she knows is, her future is more uncertain than its ever been. No obligations or restrictions are tying her down to anything, and normally this liberty would make one happy, but she feels as if she were a helium balloon, floating away. Lost, and the only person she wants to grab the string and pull her back to a meaningful existence is still silent.

_Maybe its best to give up on my feelings for Artemis_, she thinks. He hasn't shown the feelings are mutual.

"I think America - might be nice." Tinsley says softly.

She doesn't see how Artemis's face has paled. How he is struggling to keep his expression neutral. If this is what Tinsley wants, he doesn't want to stop her. These feelings of his, the racing heart, the electricity he feels in her presence - the pulse of life she brings with her wherever she goes - he really has to give those up?


	18. Last words

The next day is the actual funeral service. The minister speaks a very indistinguishable sermon, the words of which will be forgotten by the audience gathered by the next day. At the end of it he invites people to line up and pay their respects to Mrs. Collins one last time before they proceed to the cemetery for the burial. Tinsley is the first in line, naturally, and whispers something no one behind her can understand.

"I believe you."

Artemis watches in the pew, agitated at the gloomy atmosphere. The woman from yesterday, Aunt Farrah if he remembers correctly, taps him on his shoulder.

"I know you and my niece are close. Are you okay with her going with me?"

"No." Artemis says bluntly. "If you tell her I said that, you'll regret it."

Aunt Farrah pales. "I see, so you like her?"

Artemis watches as Tinsley looks at the pictures of her and her mother displayed on a table on the left side of the room, and he understands as he watches it, her eyes full of grief, brimming with tears ready to fall, what it is to really love someone. The sorrow you feel when they're gone, the happiness you have when they are with you. The dozens of little memories you create that add up to this artistic masterpiece you can admire together when times are hard. The main thing is, you almost never fully understand how important a person is in your life until they're gone. He doesn't want this to be the case with him and Tinsley, not if he can prevent it.

"Yes, I do." He says, more to himself than an answer. "If you'll excuse me, I need to pay my last respects to Mrs. Collins."

He stands in line watching the others take their time, shuffling their feet slowly, everything so dark and full of sorrow, feeding off each other's negative energy. When finally his turn arrives at the coffin, he feels his heart squeeze tighter in his chest.

A woman who couldn't have been older than forty. Her lips are a pale pink. Her hair is a quickly fading blondish brown. Her eye shadow is overdramatic, making it look like she had been a woman of a suspicious nature. Not that any of this matters, its not as if he came up here to see what Tinsley's mother looked like. Its more like a request.

"Mrs. Collins, I'm perfectly capable of watching over Tinsley. I promise I can take care of her as well as your sister could, so I'm going to do my best to make that happen" He speaks it so softly, its nothing but a little bit of air escaping his lips.

Of course, its not as if she can sit up and say she approves, in fact, if she were alive, she probably would not. Artemis tries not to dwell on this fact. As he walks back to his pew, a thought hits him. What if he's being selfish in wanting Tinsley to stay? Would America be better for her? One thing he realizes with a sinking heart is, even if he does tell her he wants her to stay, even if he pleads, he still has no control over whether or not she does.

"Artemis Fowl, you IDIOT!" Holly says. Its later after the funeral service and he's just filled her in on what happened at the visitation and funeral. "You haven't told her yet that you don't want her to leave?"

Artemis hates it when Holly loses her temper. "I'm planning on it."

"You better be! I have enough to worry about with planning my wedding, I don't want to be solely responsible for making sure your love life works out! Trouble wants a band at the wedding, and the catering is going to be more expensive than I originally thought, and I haven't had the chance to start any of the event planning because of Foaly's wings malfunctioning!"

"My love life?" Those are the only words of that rant that stuck with him.

"Yes, that thing you keep avoiding like an idiot."

Artemis maintains his composure but barely. "I am going to see if I can convince her to stay tonight, Captain, so if you would calm yourself, I would appreciate it."

Holly takes a deep breath in, and lets it out.

"Alright. And Arty, please, don't mess it up."


	19. A drunk confession

Artemis knocks on Tinsley's door later that night.

"Come on in!" She yells, not even bothering to check who it is. The door is open a crack, so he lets himself in.

"You frustrate me! Grrrrrrr, you!" He barely misses the pillow she throws at him from the hotel bed she is sitting cross legged on.

Artemis looks at her with a raised eyebrow. Its is only then he notices the half empty alcohol beverage in her right hand.

"Tinsley, are you drunk?"

Tinsley giggles in response. "I don't know - maybe?"

He takes the bottle out of her hand and pours the remaining contents of it down the drain. He doesn't know how much she has already drank, but he isn't going to give her the opportunity to drink any more. He pours some water into a complimentary plastic cup and gives it to her.

"Drink this, it will help with the after effects." He says.

She takes it, giving him an evil eye the entire time.

"I hate you!" Tinsley says loudly in protest. "You're - you - grrr, I can never tell what you're thinking." She stands up from the bed after finishing the drink and walks in a staggered line. "This is you, this is you okay? 'hey, look at me, I'm Artemis Fowl, I walk around all arrogantly because I can solve triple integrals in whatever it is, only I actually know what it is because _I'm_ a genius.' And now my bottle is empty. Geez."

"Tinsley, I really wanted to discuss something serious with you."

"Well go ahead and shoot, I'm drunk at the moment, not dumb."

This isn't the right circumstance to discuss it, but he doesn't have a choice, time is running out.

"That is - you had something to tell me correct? You said so in your text." He starts, referring to the text she sent him the day she left for Limerick.

"That's right. I was going to tell you that I think you're amazing! You're the king and I'm the pawn, but we go back in the same box at the end of the game, so it doesn't really matter!" Tinsley says with a satisfied drunken smile.

"Excuse me-what?" Artemis can't keep up, is she speaking in riddles now? And what happened to her hating him a few seconds earlier?

"Then - do you or do you not hate me?"

"Oh, I wrote a poem for you!"

Tinsley races to the room's dresser. She stumbles a little clumsily and laughs the whole way.

"Here!" She puts a crumbled piece of paper in his hand.

"This is the second version, the first one didn't turn out well." Tinsley informs him.

A poem for Artemis

I kind of sort of maybe like you

I kind of sort of maybe like you a lot

The end!

Artemis's heart races with excitement - but wait, he reminds himself, this is just a drunken confession. It doesn't count. Maybe not, but it gives him the courage he needs.

"Tinsley, I'm only going to say this once, so please pay attention."

Tinsley is all ears, gazing at him with the eyes of a child anticipating a bedtime story.

"I want you to stay here, in Ireland."

He sits on the edge of the bed, momentarily unstable at just having almost fully confessed. Now is not the proper situation, but he had felt the words on the tip of his tongue, ready to pour out. It's a good thing he's an emotionally stable person.

"Okay!" Tinsley agrees without a second thought. She sits beside him on the bed, and suddenly grabs his left arm, hugging it as if it was a pillow. She leans her head on his left shoulder. Artemis doesn't know how to react, but her grip is too tight to push her away. Plus, he'll admit, he doesn't want to.

A few minutes later he stands to grab a water bottle for Tinsley, and she gives him an exaggerated pout.

"Who said you could go?" She takes the water bottle and gulps it down as if it were the bottle of alcohol she'd had earlier. He sits back down beside her, deciding its best to monitor her and make sure she hasn't over done it to the point of needing medical attention.

Tinsley wraps her arms around him again, and again rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes.

"Yeah, I'll be just fine like this." Tinsley says softly, drifting slowly into a drunken slumber.


	20. A sweet dream

Tinsley wakes up feeling as if little people are hitting the inside of her head with hammers as hard as they can. All she can remember clearly is driving to a small run down liquor store after the funeral. She isn't even eighteen yet, so not old enough to purchase alcohol, but she knows the guy who had been working, and he didn't say a word as always. She sees the bottle in the trash under the sink, completely empty.

_Holy crap, did I drink the whole thing?_

Its what happened after she got drunk that has her worried. She can't remember anything. She does remember the dream she had though; well, bits and pieces of it. In it, Artemis finally told her he didn't want her to go to America. She had hugged his arm and rested her head on his shoulder. If only it wasn't just a dream. Well, at least she'd been told what she was wanting to, and still waiting with no hope, to hear, even if just in a dream. What a sweet dream it had been, she wishes she hadn't been forced to wake up with this killer headache.

Someone knocks loudly on her door.

"Ow." She mutters, trying to stop her head from spinning.

"Are you ready to go?" Artemis asks when she opens the door.

"Ten minutes, I need ten minutes." Tinsley replies. She doesn't have much to pack up. Holly, Artemis and Butler wait in the next room as Tinsley quickly shoves everything into a duffel bag, making as little noise as possible so as not to flare up her headache.

The ride back to the estate, nobody says anything. Holly becomes uneasy that her "cupid plan" is heading for disaster. The drive feels two hours longer than it is, and Holly can't help but breathe a sigh of relief as they pull into the driveway.

Artemis heads straight to the study to resume repairs on Holly's wings. Tinsley heads to her room to get started on packing.

"So did you convince her to stay?" Holly asks as Artemis magnifies a section of the wires on the right wing to locate the origin of the problem.

"I'm not sure." Artemis says, his entire focus on the repairs, but mostly, studying the technology. It always manages to amaze him, the inventions the people use. Such compact systems capable of an extensive list of functions, it is mind boggling.

"What does that mean?" Holly says, feeling a bit panicked.

"She was drunk. I'm not exactly sure if she remembers anything."

Holly resists the urge to punch something, but just barely. "Okay, so what's your game plan now? When are you planning on retelling her not to go - when she's sober?"

Artemis studies the wings, turns them on to make sure the tiny engine inside is running smoothly. It makes a soft hum, ready to go.

"I'm not exactly certain of the details as of yet. It's a bit more daunting of a task telling her when she is of sound mind and will remember everything crystal clear."

The courage he had yesterday with her poem, it is gone. Still, he reminds himself, he won't go back on his word to do his best to make Tinsley stay here.

"The wings are done." He announces around half an hour later.

Holly fits them on, and does a preflight check.

"Listen, Arty, you have a limited time to get your feelings across to her before that door closes. So don't hesitate. Tell her."

"I will."

"Its important, super important, okay?" Holly stresses. Artemis looks at her confused; she's acting as if she has something to gain or lose personally from him admitting to Tinsley how much he wants her to stay in Ireland. Holly almost doesn't want to leave out of concern he'll chicken out, but she can't delay wedding planning any longer, there's too much to do and not enough time, she just prays everything will work out. First things first, she has to make it to a place to complete the ritual without being detected by any mud people.

"I'll be in touch." She says before flying off, making sure to fly over the cover of trees, out of the sight of any human eyes.

"Tinsley?" Artemis knocks on her door after supper.

Tinsley opens the door with a cheerful smile. Everything she owns is packed in two suitcases, shoved into a corner by the dresser. So then she really doesn't remember agreeing to his request to stay in Ireland Artemis concludes with a sinking stomach.

"Are you excited for America?" He asks with a dry mouth, then wonders why he would ask such a question. No, he decides, that's not it, that's not how this should go. Calm and collected, he restarts, "Actually, I -"

"Yes." Tinsley says suddenly, throwing him off guard.

"Oh, you are?"

"Yes, I'm really looking forward to auditioning for the dance academy."

"Right." Artemis's mouth has become dry. She looks very enthusiastic about it. Maybe America presents her better opportunities than he can here, he thinks grimly. So then, it is selfish after all, wanting her to stay in Ireland. It seems as though he hadn't been lying when he said he'd only say those words once to her, the words he dare not say now when she looks at him with such a hopeful, optimistic expression.

_I want you to stay here, in Ireland._


	21. Goodbye?

The next few days pass by quickly, as Tinsley is busy making the arrangements for her trip, mostly the paperwork aspects of it. She has her passport ready to go, even with such short notice of the trip, thanks to some of Butler's connections. She has announced her last day at school, and is doing her best to keep smiling, but the full weight of her decision to move to America is starting to sink in.

Artemis keeps telling himself the right time will present itself for him to tell her his feelings regarding her relocating to America. He spends most of his time locked in the study, even more so than usual, trying to distance himself from her, but still, a part of him hopes that somehow, in some way, the perfect time to tell Tinsley he likes her and wants her to stay will come. Naturally, it doesn't, and all too soon, its Saturday, the day Tinsley is leaving and he can't put off the inevitable any longer.

Angeline and Artemis Senior say their goodbyes at breakfast.

"I hope you enjoy America, please do keep in touch." Angeline says.

"Its been nice having you here." Artemis Senior adds politely.

Beckett waddles over and hugs her leg. "My fiancee!" he cries.

Myles gives him a look at disgust at the waterworks (he's long since convinced himself he's too old to cry). "Simple-toon."

He says this, but he has tears in his eyes as well.

Tinsley scoops them up in a group hug. "I'll miss you guys."

She looks warmly at all the members of the family seated at the table. "Thank you, for everything."

Artemis can't even find the words goodbye, perhaps subconsciously he's convinced himself if he doesn't say goodbye then she can't really leave. Of course this isn't the case and half an hour later she's pulling out of the estate's driveway.

Artemis rereads the poem Tinsley had written him over and over. Tinsley left half an hour ago, and he is feeling worse by the minute. As if knowing his situation, Holly calls him on his communicator. He picks up on the first ring.

"She's gone, Holly." He says before she can even get in a hello.

"What?" Holly nearly chokes on her lunch. He hears her mumble something along the lines of 'excuse me, I have to talk to him, I'll be back in a second Trouble..'"

When her full attention is focused on Artemis, its not pleasant. "What do you mean? You were supposed to convince her to stay!"

"I tried, but she is set on the dance academy." Artemis explains.

"Oh man, this has gone too far!" Holly says softly.

"What was that?" Artemis couldn't quite catch it.

"Nothing. Listen Artemis, you need to get to the airport now. Its your last chance. I know you'll regret this later. Besides, I'm on the next chute up right now, so I'll probably get to the airport before you even get there, and so help me, if you are not there, you are going to become the guinea pig for your own brain probe experiment, and I will set it on honesty, so you will tell her everything one way or the other, got it?"

"You don't know the code." Artemis points out, growing slightly pale.

"I have other ways, so get going before you have to regret it!"

Artemis already _has_ been regretting it, that's the reason Tinsley's sad excuse of a poem has yet to leave his fingertips since she left.

"Thanks, Captain." He says. He finds the courage he'd had when he first read Tinsley's poem returning. So what if trying to make Tinsley stay is a selfish move, he reminds himself, he's a criminal, and he didn't get his fortune caring about what's best for other people. Not that it even matters, if Tinsley stays, he'll make sure its because it is the right choice for her. Her aunt isn't the only one capable of providing auditions for prestigious dance academies.

"Why are you still on the phone with me? Go!"

Butler already has the car ready to go, having fully expected Artemis would want to chase after Tinsley. Not even a minute later Artemis is on the familiar road to the airport, and the car can't go fast enough.

Tinsley doesn't remember packing such a heavy suitcase as she rolls her luggage along the floor to her gate where she is supposed to meet her aunt. She finds her aunt examining herself in a compact mirror, and applying a bright ruby red lipstick that doesn't go well with her pasty skin.

Aunt Farrah is so absorbed in fixing herself up she doesn't even notice Tinsley sit beside her. When she does, its with the biggest wide-eyed-surprised look she's ever witnessed. Not just shock from being startled, but, and maybe its Tinsley's imagination, as if she wasn't expecting her to be here.

"You're here." Aunt Farrah says. "I didn't think it was supposed to go this far."

"I'm not sure what you mean." Tinsley says, but she feels this confirms her suspicions. For whatever reason, it appears her aunt hadn't even been expecting her to show up today for the flight to America.


	22. Sealed with a kiss

People, too many people. Moving this way and that, blocking his view. He can't find her. Butler is right behind him, trying to use his height to his advantage to see if he can spot her, but he can't.

"Oh…"Artemis suddenly stops looking, and his eyes gloss over with despair.

Butler follows his gaze to the Airport's schedule, displaying in bold menacing electronic letters the flight to America Tinsley was scheduled to board has already departed, not even ten minutes previously.

"Damn it!" Artemis exclaims through gritted teeth, surprising Butler. "I was so close!"

"He missed his flight -" Butler mutters to a panicked looking woman who overheard Artemis's swearing. Butler doesn't know how to react to his charge's uncharacteristic behavior. It is a strange sight indeed, Artemis so freely expressing his emotions.

Artemis takes a seat on a bench facing away from the gate. Butler joins him, not knowing what else to do.

"You guys can keep in touch." He says, trying to be optimistic.

Artemis heaves a sigh and sits up as straight at he can.

"Well, what's done is done, I suppose." He says. A few moments of silence pass in which he tries focus on the sounds of footsteps, the low hum of the crowd's voices, any possible distraction.

"Only…it isn't quite like that." Artemis admits. "This could have been different. It should have been different. Logically speaking, I would have been successful in convincing her to stay. After all, she does like me. Even if it was written while she was intoxicated, her poem's words are still true."

Butler, having never seen the poem, is lost at Artemis's ramblings.

"You know Butler, I had it all planned out. What I would say to her." Artemis continues.

"Oh?" Butler says, interested.

"Yes, naturally. As if I'd walk into any situation without a general plan at the very least." Artemis, feeling quite fearless, and with nothing more to lose, begins the speech he had planned. "Tinsley - I think you're an idiot."

Butler does his best to express his concern with the opening statement. "I don't think that's a solid beginning-"

"But," Artemis continues as if he hasn't heard any objections, "the face you make as you solve math problems is rather entertaining. You can't sing well, but if you leave I'll miss you belting out songs at the top of your lungs. You're too trusting, but you have to be - the nicest person _I've_ ever met."

"Artemis?"

The voice that cuts off his speech is a familiar one. Sweet, cheerful, one that belongs to someone who should be on a flight to America at the moment.

He turns around on the bench to see Tinsley, clutching her suitcase. It takes him a moment to fully grasp its not some wild trick of his mind. There she is, in the pink top with ruffles and faded blue jeans he watched her leave in this morning. In front of him.

"I am _not_ an idiot." Tinsley says with a playful smile.

Artemis's exterior reveals no sign of his inner panic. Then she heard everything?

"See?" Tinsley pulls out a piece of paper on which she's been working out the same type of math problem over and over and over again. There are eraser smudges on almost every part of it, causing the numbers to blur together almost to the point of illegibility. Nevertheless, he can tell as he scans it over, all the answers are correct.

"These are all right." He confirms.

"I know!" Tinsley beams proudly. "This really nice guy was waiting for the same flight as me, and we were talking about school, and he volunteered to help me with it. Although, he called me an idiot a couple times as well. I forget his name."

Tinsley of course saw no problem in having talked to a complete stranger at an airport.

"Tinsley, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Tinsley says.

"You are aware this homework was due three days ago?"

Tinsley pales. "Oh, man."

Artemis chuckles softly. Typical Tinsley. "And - why aren't you on the flight to America right now?"

"Oh -" Tinsley shrugs her shoulders. " I had a last minute change of heart. You see, Artemis, on top of my flaws of being an idiot and not being able to sing to save my life, I also have this tendency to run away from my problems. I just realized I had this certain thing I didn't want to run away from and -" her smile grows exponentially. "It looks like I made the right choice. But you know, It was the oddest thing, my aunt looked _relieved_ when I suddenly told her I changed my mind."

"Just so there aren't any misunderstandings, when I said you are an idiot and can't sing, I think you might have heard it in a different context than I-"

But he can't finish the sentence because Tinsley's lips are gently pressed against his, sending his heart haywire. This kiss is short and sweet; Artemis has to admit it's the most pleasant way he's ever been told to shut up. Artemis pulls away first, in shock at Tinsley's bold move, but Tinsley's arms remain loosely wrapped around his neck, afraid if she completely pulls away, he'll be gone. She finds that she can't stop smiling. He is here in front of her, which means he chased after her, which means, perhaps he feels the same way about her. One thing is for sure, she isn't going to leave it an open question for a moment longer.

"Artemis, I like you, and I'm not going anywhere."

Artemis, despite being uncomfortable with the public display of affection, finds he's too happy to truly mind. The ends of his lips curl skyward, the softest expression he'll allow himself to display, soaking in the moment. A few people have stopped to watch. He hears someone whisper to another how cute it is ('how adorable, I thought this kind of thing only happened in movies!'). Somewhere a loud thud from someone dropping a heavy book resonates throughout a corridor of the airport. The most memorable thing about this moment, however, is the light vanilla scent that hovers in the air around Tinsley. No longer will he associate it with a memory of her walking away from him. Now Tinsley, strong points, flaws and everything in between is here to stay.

"I'm glad to hear it."

Butler clears his throat. Artemis catches the signal, and Tinsley releases her hold on Artemis, embarrassed. She had been so caught up in the moment she'd forgotten this entire scene is happening in the middle of an airport filled with people.

"I also like you." He finally admits.

"VICTORY!" cries a voice from somewhere in the airport.


	23. A bright future

**5 MONTHS LATER**

Holly is freaking out. "Are all the girls all dressed and ready to go?" She asks Artemis as he walks in and takes a seat in the corner of the dressing room.

"Yes." He replies.

Holly studies herself in the mirror again. "I'm getting married today," she says, and the words bring a wide smile to her face. Any trace of worry is gone. She adjusts the white flower adorning her hair, which is pulled back into a small elegant bun.

"You know, Artemis, I have a confession." She says with a sneaky smirk.

"And what would that be, Captain?" He inquires, genuinely curious.

"There never really was any threat of Tinsley going to America. I set the whole thing up. I had Foaly give me Tinsley's aunt's cell phone number and told her to come to Ireland as soon as possible, because her sister had passed on and left her money in her will. A lie, but the woman is so greedy, it worked. When she got here, I had Butler meet with her and request that she ask Tinsley to fly to America with her after the funeral. Thank God Butler is Butler and managed to get her to agree without money as a bribe."

It had been a setup? Even Butler had been a part of it? Artemis doesn't even bother asking why; he understands why Holly had done it - she wanted to create a scenario in which Artemis would be pressured to admit he liked Tinsley. It was quite an underhanded method for her to use, though.

"I think that was completely unnecessary." Artemis says flatly.

Holly laughs teasingly. "Oh, really? It worked right? You and Tinsley are together now, right?"

Artemis nods. "We've been dating for five months now."

"Exactly!" She smiles proudly. "Hey, this bow looks even right?" she says, referring to the small bow on the back of her ivory colored gown.

"Its perfect," Artemis says, deciding not to be upset at the fact he'd been involved in a scheme orchestrated by Holly. Everything worked out for the best.

A knock on the door interrupts the sweet moment.

The wedding planner Holly hired enters the room without Holly giving her permission first, but she's in a hurry with the last minute details. She gives a momentary surprised look at Artemis (after all, Artemis is well known in Haven, but to have him here at a wedding she had planned, this is something she can brag about to her coworkers tomorrow!)

"Are you ready to go? You need to be in place in ten." The fairy informs her.

"I'm ready." Holly says with an ever growing smile at the prospect of her marriage. With this, the fairy ducks out of the room to make sure the catering company is on schedule.

"So what college are you planning on going to?" Holly asks, reminding Artemis that Senior graduation isn't too far away, and his future is knocking on the door.

"The University of Dublin." He replies. "I'm planning on majoring in Biology and Mathematics."

"Of course you are - well, good luck, and congratulations on being accepted. Not that anyone had to ever worry about you being accepted into a good college. And Tinsley?" Holly prods.

"She's been accepted into the College Of Dance in Dublin."

"That's great! Tell her I say congratulations." Holly takes a deep breath and brushes some imaginary dust off her dress. Its nerve wracking of course, this wedding day, but she's just excited for the end of it, when she can proudly tell everyone Trouble is her husband. The flower arrangements, the food the guests munch on during the reception - she finds she won't mind if the flowers are a little wilted, or the food doesn't taste as wonderful as she expects it to. Things can go slightly wrong, as long as at the end of today everyone has witnessed her union to the man she loves.

"Okay, I'm ready to go." She says full of confidence and excitement.

Artemis escorts her down the hall to the large double doors, on the other side of which a crowd eagerly awaits Holly's entrance.

"Are you sure the bow is perfect?" She asks again.

"Capta -," he begins, but today of all days, he decides the formal tone can be dropped at least for a little while. "Holly, you look wonderful."

With this, the doors open and Holly looks straight ahead to her fiancée, soon to be husband. Artemis enjoys the opportunity to appreciate his best friend's happiness. The chords of the fairy's version of the wedding march begin, Holly's cue to start walking down the aisle. Artemis is the one in charge of escorting her down the aisle, as she couldn't think of anyone else she wanted to give her away. If Root had been alive, it would have been him, but that's how things are. The future is never certain, and sometimes things aren't always how one pictures it for whatever reason. One thing relatively secure for both Artemis and Holly is at least the future, however uncertain it is, looks incredibly welcoming at this point in time.


End file.
